Twiblight
Cullen Edwards was given to the Templars as a babe, no one knew his true origins. He was a sensitive child who struggled with the discipline he was taught. He was also introverted and some called him agoraphobic, for he never went outside unless he was forced to. As he grew up, he grew only paler, his skin translucent, his reddish brown hair looked dark against it.
He believed the words of the chant but until she came to the tower, he was never tested. She was but a child, but her face filled his thoughts, and she smelled so good. Every day was a struggle against his nature, every day he was tempted to break the promise he had sworn to the Revered Mother long ago. Giving in would not only mean her death, but his as well.
He watched her grow up and his awareness of her blossomed into a far darker desire. At night he would creep into the student dormitory and watch her sleep. Her skin was as pale as his own, but her wild hair was as dark as his eyes, those windows to his tormented and beautiful soul. Her breath smelled sweet and her smelled even sweeter. Cullen knew he was just torturing himself, there could never been anything between them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Bella Amell was an ordinary girl, not tall, not fat. She liked to read books that were required reading in Orlesian finishing schools. She came from an ordinary family and wore hand-me-down robes. She also tripped over a lot and fell down the stairs every time she tried to use them. There were a lot of stairs in the tower so she got bruised a lot.
Life in the tower was boring to her, it was a very small community compared to living in Denerim. It was small, little, diminutive, petite and did we mention small? Bella found the tower boring, tedious, dreary, mind-numbing, tiresome and humdrum. The other mages were shallow or old and boring, what kind of environment was this for a growing young girl who dreamed of love?
The Templars frightened her, they were always there in the background, watching them. They made no noise when they moved, despite the heavy armour they wore. And Cullen was the worst of them, his dark eyes were always on her, she was sure that he was thinking of killing her should she fail her exams.
The time of her harrowing approached, just thinking about it made her fall over and scrape her knees. She was afraid, more of the Templars than the demons, though her spell casting was also rather weak. She entered the fade and talked the big strong manly spirits into protecting her from the demon, while she whittled away at it with her one offensive spell.
When she awoke Cullen was there sitting in the corner of the dorm room, her eyes grew large at the sight of him crouching there. He saw that she was awake and grew paler, if that were even possible. "You survived," he said.
"Yes," Bella said.
"Oh," Cullen said.
"I know," Bella said.
"Why?" Cullen said.
"Because I..." Bella tried to explain.
Cullen grew even paler and ran out of the room.
Bella's face crumpled in a way that showed vague emotional dismay but was still aesthetically pleasing: "Oh Cullen, I wish you could talk to me!" She whispered, conveniently forgetting she was terrified of him.